Federal court sides with South Georgia teacher in racial bias lawsuit

Amid the Trump administration’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a South Georgia teacher recently received a legal win after a discrimination lawsuit.

Lana Foster, a 65-year-old retiree, was fired in 2018 after 34 years of working for the Echols County School District, and she filed a lawsuit claiming years of racial discrimination, according to WABE. 

Text messages from two school board members showed they used racial slurs and even compared Black children to animals, and two years after the court filing the district settled to pay Foster more than $130,000 and agree to change their hiring and recruitment policy.

However, Foster said they have not complied with the settlement agreement.

“It’s been almost seven years, and they still have not hired a minority or a Black [teacher] there at Echols County,” Foster said. “They’re, they’re just not doing it.”

Recently, a federal appeals court sided with Foster finding that the seven school officials refused to comply with the settlement agreement. This means Foster can proceed with her case.

“I wasn’t worried,” Foster said, “because when this started this years ago, I asked God, I said, ‘What would you have me to do?’ And he said, ‘fight.’”

Echols County is a rural area along the Florida-Georgia line, and minority students make up more than half of the school district. Court documents show that during Foster’s tenure the district settled three complaints involving racially discriminatory practices. 

“Our kids, no matter what their race is, they need to see some of their own in the school system,” Foster said. “And we do have a lot of professionals of all races that can help our kids. And they deserve that.”